Conventionally, cells, microorganisms, and others are cultured in culture chambers such as glove boxes, for example. A culture chamber needs to be always kept clean, and thus needs to be sterilized before a cell, for instance, is cultured therein.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a culture device which sterilizes the inside of a culture chamber. The culture device disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes a sterilizing gas generator which supplies sterilizing gas into the culture chamber, and an ultraviolet generator which emits ultraviolet rays. The culture device disclosed in Patent Literature 1 supplies sterilizing gas into the culture chamber, and thereafter decomposes the sterilizing gas by emitting ultraviolet rays, thus reducing a concentration of the sterilizing gas. In this manner, a sterilization period can be shortened.